I frequently get headaches, I get all sorts - tension, cluster and migraine, most of the time I can pop a few pills and sleep it off and its all fine, but not at the moment. I started my latest tension headache about a week ago and it has built and built and built to the point a few times a day I feel like someone is pounding the back of my head with a wooden bat.

Today was a scary day, I took a sick day as I've just not been right and I thought after a week it was about time to go to the doctor and get this checked out. Now, quite a few people would just pop some migraine tablets and wait for it to subside but with my blood issues I cant just do that and its at times like this my blood issues drive me potty. Anyhoo, my GP was fantastic and took me seriously and promptly referred my to the hospital. She was 99% certain it was 'just' a tension headache but with my history, there is that small chance there could be a clot in my brain or a brain haemorrhage so off to Addenbrookes I went.

I have to say, I am so impressed with the medical staff I have had dealings with since I moved, the Thrombosis Clinic at Addenbrookes are fantastic, I was treat like I mattered and wasnt just wasting their time over a 'headache'. I was a bit nervous about the CT scan but so relieved they didnt need to do a Lumbar Puncture as that would have involved being admitted, my blood meds reversed, do the Puncture and then get my meds back to normal - before going to France on Thursday. When everything came back clear I was relieved.

But, I was also cross with myself. Why does stress, anxiety and tension affect people in different ways? How do some have the coping mechanisms that these things dont seem to concern them? And for me, why do I get shoulders like concrete when I'm stressed, feel like I'm losing grip on situations and suffer these intense tension headaches?

Today was a bit of an eye opener for me and I am beyond thankful that there is nothing lurking in my head. However it is also a big lesson learned that I need to manage my anxiety and my coping mechanisms for stress and feeling run ragged. I am off on holiday in a couple of days, ten days of enforced relaxation and not doing much beyond walking along the beach, sitting by the pool, relaxing on our Lodge decking and eating French food - sounds exactly like what the doctor ordered and time for me to take stock as to what is really important and what I can cope with on a manageable level.